Chilling video shows the moment top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh hears for the first time that his three sons and a some of his grandchildren have been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza.
voice can be heard delivering the news to the group’s top political leader during a visit to injured Palestinians, saying: ‘Hazem, Mohammed and Amir have been killed, along with their children.’
Haniyeh barely flinches as he hears the information, and remains composed as he nods and takes it in before slowly walking out of the room. ‘God rest their souls,’ he says, before he is asked by an aide: ‘Shall we end the visit?’
The Hamas chief nonchalantly responds: ‘No, why? Let’s continue,’ as he walks to the door, followed by his entourage and officials. The group were meeting wounded Palestinians at a hospital in Qatar, where Haniyeh lives in exile.
Haniyeh, who has 13 sons and daughters according to Hamas sources, later said his three sons and four of his grandchildren were killed in a fatal strike near the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. Israel claims Mohammed and Hazem were Hamas military operatives, while Amir was a cell commander.
Haniyeh, 61, later confirmed the news to Al Jazeera, telling the broadcaster: ‘I am grateful to God for the honor he has given me in the deaths of three of my children and a few of my grandchildren.’
‘My sons were awarded this honor. They remained with our Palestinian people in Gaza, did not leave and did not run,’ he said, adding: ‘The blood of my sons is not dearer than the blood of our people.’
The terror leader hit out at Israel, stating they are ‘driven by the spirit of revenge’ as he claimed around 60 members of his family have been killed since the start of the war.
Hamas later said that four of Haniyeh’s grandchildren, named as Mona, Amal, Khaled and Razan, were among those killed in what they described as the ‘treacherous and cowardly’ strike. The Israeli military did not comment on the reports.
A report today has suggested that Israeli forces carried out the air strike without consulting senior commanders or political leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Quoting senior Israeli officials, Walla news agency said neither Netanyahu nor Defence Minister Yoav Gallant had been told in advance of the strike, which was coordinated by the Israeli military and the Shin Bet intelligence service.
It said Amir, Mohammad and Hazem Haniyeh had been targeted as fighters and not because they were the sons of Hamas’s political leader.
No comment on the Walla report was immediately available from the prime minister’s office or the military.
The IDF claimed that the three Haniyeh brothers were ‘en route to carry out terror activity in the area of central Gaza’ when they were hit by the strike.
According to a report by Israeli broadcaster Kan, the IDF alleged that one of Haniyeh’s sons was involved in holding hostages, though it did not offer further information or specify which.
Pictures purporting to show Hazem, Amir and Mohammed Haniyeh have been circulating on Palestinian media channels.
Images have also emerged of the scene of the strike, with the shell of a bombed-out car pictured being inspected by passersby in Shati camp, west of Gaza City.
